Bitcoin Forum

Court Rules Bitcoin Is a Form of “Money” Under Washington D.C. Money Transmitters Act
https://btcmanager.com/court-rules-bitcoin-money-washington-dc-money-transmitters-act/




IMO, this news could be huge news for the entire crypto community I think this will bring us one step closer to mass adoption. What do guys think?

This could legalize bitcoin but it would also bring more regulations relating to it and would be taxable and counted upon income and other taxes.
In my opinion, bitcoin use was never a threat in an open society like US but it's categorization as money would provide more power to the authorities to control it. Though the consequences would be clearer with the passing time.

Definitely. Ive seen the market sudden surge today especially for bitcoin. We all knew ethereum is having a good day due to their upcoming launch and bitcoin good news somultaneously ride with it resulting to huge rise.

If US will considered this as form of money then digital currency has a bright future ahead. Mass adoption is happening already and almost all people realized that this will continue and even more realized it.

OP, I think since its bitcoin topic should this be move to bitcoin discussion instead here?

Part of mass adoption and will contribute a lot. We have been hearing good news for bitcoin lately around the globe and this is just one of it. While in Russia, the bill that's being passed doesn't look bitcoin like what Washington D.C is looking at. They don't want bitcoin to be a form of money but only for trading. I guess if we compile these news, there's a pretty good news that we can absorb from them as long as there's no negative and banning of bitcoin.

Well yeah, it can be big news but  I don't think it will make such a huge impact in mass adoption. Looking at the article you included, it started with illegal activities, transactions, and unlicensed business, and the defendant tried to say that bitcoin is not a "money" (to escape from illegal-money transmission). While the judged considered bitcoin as a form of "money" according to him since it fits the category. So should we really look at this as positive news for the crypto community when illegal activities were still involved? In fact, I think it'll affect crypto the other way around since people might think that crypto or bitcoin is always related to illegal activities.

The article say :

Still not really excited about the news, that's just a parable for the case since on the court case its about "money loundering" case. That's just from my own opinion about these nothing really being excited about these.

I feel like just because court ruled something that doesn't mean it will change the regular peoples opinions so the adoption would not really get that high that quickly. Of course it could be better because companies will be able to act accordingly, and taxed accordingly as well. If bitcoin is money, so is euro, and when you exchange euro to dollar it is legal and it is quite easy and it is common, which means if you actually start a company that sells bitcoin for dollars, that means you are going to have a lot easier time to actually do it now that this rule is applied.

This doesn't reflect to mass adoption right away, but it does change some stuff, it at least lays the foundation for a potential mass adoption and how we could handle it, if it happens we will be much more ready thanks to this.

And yet another good news again, well Its better not to depend on this, it isn't the first time we will see good news like this and nothing still happens, it's better that DeFi is taking the lead you know, way better than any good news

Chinese court has also given a pro crypto ruling while Russian policy makers are working to declare crypto as a property looks like everything is turning in favor of the crypto market at the moment so expect this bull run to be bigger than ever.

This must be the reason why BTC burst up all of a sudden. Good news indeed, there isn't a big media coverage for this kind of news though but only those who are interesting in crypto who sees this kind of news.  Investors who have a lot of money will be buying BTC, the ones who are already holding BTC celebrates. I guess we are going to be preparing for the bulls to rally.  

Peter Van Valkenburgh already fud around saying its just in the context of D.C.’s money transmission law.  So what does he mean when they say you need money transmitter license if you are a btc intermediary?

Surely this will have a positive effect on Bitcoin, this is such a good news for all cryptocurrency community and due to this alot of pump might come up because many more investors will surely joined cryptocurrency.

This might be the biggest reason of the current pump and its good that the government finally see bitcoin as a money. Though the effect of this one might still take time before people to realize, at least a bigger government recognizes bitcoin and its existence. Bitcoin is money and the best money digitally, we can't disagree to this one and I'm sure bitcoin will continue to grow. This news can push the trigger and lift the market up to the peak.

On the one hand, this is great news. But if you think about it well, it also carries a negative for bitcoin. The authorities will have some control creating laws that can track and punish illegal traffic of funds and so on.

This both can be the reason of sudden pump of bitcoin prize this days, now that governments are acknowledging btc as a form of money and that found to be useful especially this time of Pandemic is a good way to make it more useful knowing many countries are still in quarantine and many being affected in doing transaction, payment or having extra sideline thru trading, gambling or crypto works. Many will get interest these days to try crypto knowing different countries are determining it as a form of money already.

Definitely great news especially when it is coming from US. I am happy to see positive events and great news recently that are favoring crypto market massively and just goes to show the massive potential ahead for the crypto market. Slowly but surely world is accepting the fact that crypto is here to stay and it is the future of payments.

Not much to be honest, in US cryptos are already regulated but not as a form of legal tender money they just consider it as commodity thing but for some probable reasons they may consider it as money especially for some crypto related scam decisions.

But if people recognize the act then it may bring adoption but I doubt they will.

This is already in action. Have you seen how much price bitcoin has gain within last two days? I think this is the main reason behind the pump of BTC price within such short time. People now will take BTC more seriously than previous and it's certainly a great benefit for the crypto community overall. It will not be easy to say BTC scam anymore.

They should accept that long time ago so we never experience that hard correction in price. Its also a good thing to all bitcoin holders that continue supporting bitcoin even in hard time when the price dump very hard this year around 4k$ below each .

Well congrats to us we already claiming now the fruit from what we are planted.

This is great information that can help further market development and help mass adoption. However, crypto is worldwide and this news should be in all governments or at least in all world powers. Therefore, this news can be a start of recognition of the judicial and legislative authorities.

One factor that people made the thoughts of being illegal is how it can't be traced that easily. We got BTC address, but that's it.
There are plenty of illegal things happening through usage of paper money we got today and it is still happening to this day.
I believe that one day, government will try to regulate the usage of cryptos and not just Bitcoin and it is kinda scaring me sometimes.

That’s indeed a news to celebrate. Cryptocurrencies getting legalized and regulated is a win for the whole market. Government would of course not leave the market open as it’s a bull (hard to control), it had to be regulated and contained in some way. Although, I strongly believe that cryptocurrencies should be traded as assets rather than form of money due to their high volatility and how people look at it as a form of investment.

This has surely brought the market one step closer to mass adoption and acceptance in the community. I just believe that we are in the beginning phase of people start understanding about the potential of cryptocurrencies; it means we can expect more number of people will be adopting cryptocurrencies in near future for some reasons like they may use it like paypal or like gold.

I strongly believe legal regulation is not required for cryptocurrencies to hit mainstream adoption still if that is happening that will definitely boost adoption of cryptocurrencies.

I think transactions using cryptocurrency can still be kept a secret and when it is not fully traceable because as far as I know there are alternative coins that can be used to randomize transactions, even though if you only use bitcoin then transactions will be able to be tracked and tracked.

I've never wanted any regulations whatsoever due to the facts that legalization will only lead us to requirements like making our transactions completely transparent and available to the higher authorities for tax purposes bs. But this is not what Bitcoin was made for. Anyways, it's an old debate these days and now I believe that involvement of global governments is equally needed here in order to let it survive because this is what we all want.

Bitcoin is diffrent, it doesn't have a creator, there wasn't any ICO, it was legally created and the creator didn't take any profit. While many altcoins started like as an ICO and that could be a huge problem in the future.

I think it is really a big boost for the crypto space because with this ruling it will change a lot of negative mindsets about crypto while paving way for more people to come in and hence mass adoption. Also, although this is a very good news, I also think that it will attract more of people who might bring in the idea of regulation of the crypto space; this is just my thoughts and I might be wrong as well. Lastly, Bitcoin can now been seen yet again as the best coin worth being in everyone's portfolio, I also believe more of positive news are yet to come.

That will surely happened in the future once legalisation was approved. Maybe we will do KYC on our Bitcoin Address which many people scared to happened due to tax issue. We cannot attain mass adoption unless bitcoin will be approved as legal money or else it will be considered as virtual money made from thin air. There is a chance that many big time institutional investors will finally enter legally in crypto market.

This move will give noncrypto users a sense of peace that bitcoin is not illegal thing. Because let's admit it, those noncrypto users who have no idea how crypto works have the notion that dealing with crypto is somewhat illegal in nature. With this regulation, they will come to know that crypto is not illegal after all. So this will give them an assurance that looking into it as payment option is really viable. Indeed we're looking at adoption here.

First things first, Bitcoin will never be accepted as legal tender nor money but a form of money or an asset because of its volatile nature. Next, you said you'll do KYC on your BTC address? I believe we're already giving pretty much the information needed to trace us just by signing a message from an address to prove that it's ours. Don't you think that it's a proof somehow that's kept somewhere by us only and can help those big guys easily trace us?

We have seen BTC rise from $ 9k to $ 11k in just over a day when this news came out. The market is becoming more positive, is that a sign of an upcoming bull run? But if BTC is considered a currency, its users will be subject to tax and income management, it's not good for us.

Can this ruling applied to other court cases outside of Washington DC, because it is clearly stated in the article
I don't think it can be applied to other countries with similar cases it goes down on how the jury or judge appreciates the value of Cryptocurrency on other countries.

Nothing to be excited but this news can cause hype, I consider it as promotion for bitcoin, I guess this is one of the reason why we are on bullish right now. This past few weeks a lot of good news happens and announcement which are positive to the crypto community. News this days can really influence the market but be careful of bulltrap, what if some whales are just riding the news.

Just a state law that has been passed. Nothing to be excited about to be honest, but yeah it is a small step towards the total integration of crypto currencies into the monetary system. Putting crypto currencies under Washingtons money transmitter law means they are eventually looking forward to do something big with it. The biggest news is going to be the one where the country announces bitcoin as a legal tender  :). But, one thing, it is going to be regulated at full scale!

The US has been a major force in the war against the crypto space. till today, loads of projects give leave room for investors in the US to participate both in the capapcities of investors and also as people working for projects because of the standpoint of the US in the crypto space but with this new development, i think they will be seen as a great mover of the adoption of the technology.

However, doesn't this make Bitcoin not decentralized again? As we know, BTC is decentralized and it is full of anonymously. In the crypto world, the rules to regulate the BTC is needed because it will determine how people mostly stare on this crypto. however, after legalized, will it influence on how the systems of the coin? The fees, and also of course taxes? is there any clear explanation?

I am happy that finally crypto is getting recognition all over the world, some friends have shared similar news from other countries and regions which is great to know as well. So it simply tells us that looks like patience will pay out big time this time around as world is now welcoming crypto and money flow into crypto is expected to be huge by the end of the year.

It's a good news that will help the community, being recognized as currency it's an step away from full adoptions, it will create impact to entire industry.


Once there's new investors showing big support to this market, expect that it will be accompanied by more
interest to follow, outcome will be determine when
money flows around.

First of all, being decentralized doesn't mean that it is anonymous. Secondly, bitcoin is decentralized, which you are correct, but it is not anonymous. It more pseudonymous. It can always be tracked back to you if your transaction somehow gets linked to you. Google "bitcoin pseudonymous" and you will understand why and how it is not anonymous. If it was truly anonymous, people wouldn't be caught scamming or doing illegal activities.
If you are worried about taxes, most of the countries tax bitcoin gains. You probably don't know.

It’s a good news, not really about getting new investors, but because it shows that the government has fully recognized Bitcoin as a legal asset. Although that will also mean that they will now have their eyes on cryptocurrency and would love to regulate it and collect taxes and all that. That’s something don’t want, most of them wants a means to earn and evade paying taxes lol, sometimes taxes can reduce your earnings to a ridiculous amount and some people don’t want that.

As for that attracting investors, I saw some comments that it doesn’t attract investors. Nah that’s not true, there are lots of investors waiting for something to prove that Bitcoin is legal, and now they have it and will now join without fear that Bitcoin is a scam.

This is true! Many people still think of the cryptocurrency world as illegal and a scammed market. For example, people in my country aren't too familiar with the cryptocurrency market, all they know about it in the news are bad news such as "fraud in the cryptocurrency market", etc. Therefore, some news like this will erase the rumor!! We're expecting the expansion of recognition!

Even though our government was uncertain about cryptocurrency they were for sure excited about collecting taxes on the income made through cryptocurrency. Was US not charging taxes for income gained through cryptocurrency before?

This can bring positive impact to crypto community. If bitcoin is recognize as a form of money then we can expect people to use this crypto as an alternative to traditional fiat. Mass adoption can influence the price as well to soar high and its good for investors who hold their bitcoin for long period already. It also means many merchants will finally accept bitcoin as one of their payment method, it wont be hard now to use it for spending and as currency, the reason it was created in the first place.

Yes it could be a big win for crypto but Bitcoin and other decentralized crypto projects don't need any centralized help to stay alive, this will only create for awareness and possibly more adoption, crypto will still survive without any help

Since I discovered Bitcoin and found out that it can be convert into a real money, I said to myself that this was a real virtual money.
It's already a big WIN a years now dude, almost 1 decades now that bitcoin gave a lot of money to everyone in the entire world actually.
So, this means another great news again for all bitcoin users and holders too.

bitcoin gave alot of money ? wow thats effin awesome . but seriously it does not  . you can get bitcoin but not for free rather you get it when you exchange your own cash to it or you are willing to work and get paid by it  .

 virtual money is a real money but in a digital form and btc is classified as one of a virutal money by the time it has started  . this isnt another great news because we btc users already knew this except to those that are not yet convinced that btc is a real money 

This is definitely very good news for the entire crypto community. However, we must not forget that all this can play a bad trick on us. The principles of blockchain and cryptocurrencies are based on complete decentralization, but the very adoption of cryptocurrencies in the world has a connotation of centralized control. And here we are at a crossroads, and what path the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the world will take will mean how the crypto market will develop further. We are now still at the beginning of a big journey for crypto and we need to be more careful with this kind of news. But I'm still glad that such news comes. This means that the crypto market is developing and moving forward.

Is this another factor why bitcoin recently make  a  great  pump with ethereum>?
Washington is one of  the popular state in US  so the impact  of  this will grow bigger to  stocks  and  also to crypto?

that day Bitcoin starts go wild and until  now  sustaining the $10,000-11,000

if other states follow washington ?then we  are looking forward  for  the  Bull here.

What is the need for centralized  coins?
You know how important this is for  the whole  world,not  only in crypto but  in economy also.
Laws  against  Bitcoin is  really going anywhere  so having this is  a Win for  us.

Actually BTC needs proper regulations to go mainstream fully, regulations are from centralized authorities. In as much as centralized authorities cannot control crypto, they still have a role to play wrt acceptability. I really like the news put up by OP, Bitcoin being recognized as money by a government body is a good one.

It is true that the ruling is a great win for the entire cryptocurrency world but their are still lots of hinderance blocking the legal tenderness of the cryptocurrencies. I doubt the world government will approve this without having a way getting hands into the price regulation.

Maybe on that State but other countries cannot adopt that ruling, because every country has its own policy regarding on Cryptocurrency, it could be different in Russia, Japan or China, although it's positive news for the community I don't think it will have a big impact in the whole industry or on every country, it takes more than that to create an impact.

This is a biggest court rulings in favor to bitcoin and it will be a big impact to the whole cryptocurrency. Acknowledging bitcoin as the real money is long overdue, they should done this before the crisis and maybe they prevented this one. Anyway, this is a new start and a new uptrend with bitcoin more good news can make bitcoin pump higher and create a new all time high, keep holding.

Getting bitcoin recognized as real money is nice but how will it translate to real world, i dont think it can be used as a mode of payment in real life given how you need to wait for a transaction to be confirmed. Bitcoin is good as a investment though, high risk high reward.

Yes, and this must be really studied by the government before everything is approved for price regulation, because it involves the law that must be carried out by everyone, so it's a bit difficult to take as an action.

I only think this will bring a form of regulation for Bitcoin. The volatility of cryptocurrency is so huge that a billionaire can go back to millionaire in few seconds. In time past soany debates have come and gone. Lets see how this goes.

   On other side of the world Russia is banning using crypto-currencies for any kind of payments. Putin seals law to ban
crypto payments in Russia, source: https://www.teletrader.com/putin-seals-law-to-ban-crypto-payments-in-russia/news/details/52844280?ts=1596290051184 (https://www.teletrader.com/putin-seals-law-to-ban-crypto-payments-in-russia/news/details/52844280?ts=1596290051184)
   Some countries are opened for crypto-currencies, while some are not! I think we will wait and see what will some
countries do, and I am sure we will see many regulations and different rules for each country.

Good news but cannot be considered a big win because we have already read a lot of these in the past it just adds up, the biggest news right now is the Defi news and the movement of the top coins in the market we are now in a bull run just us we've had our long bear period I'm hoping that we will also our longest bull period.

Yes, and time travel will provide a very appropriate answer to this, because speculation and predictions often do not provide the maximum answer for a regulation that will roll in the future.

If you are earning an income, you should act like a citizen and pay the taxes. Bitcoin was developed keeping decentralization in mind i.e. to eliminate the interference of any third-party institution and not as something to hide your black money with. It is only fair if government imposes taxes on it and stops money laundering and other illegal activities.

Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies if left unregulated, will give rise to many illegal activities and also increase its usage as payment method on the dark web.